The Start-up AwardsXXI recognise start-ups with the best solutions to future challenges

• CaixaBank, through DayOne, has presented the national awards of the 19th edition of the Start-up AwardsXXI, established as a benchmark for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain and Portugal

• In this edition, eight “Future Challenges” awards, two cross-cutting runner-up prizes for Social Impact and Disruptive Innovation, and the Alumni Trajectory Award have been presented

• The start-ups awarded in the Future Challenges category were Batea Oncology, Second Hundred, REWOOX, Voltic, Veganic, Aridditive, GPT Advisor and ATOM H2

• Additionally, the cross-cutting runner-up prizes went to Polar Nanopharma, in Social Impact, and AjaxDNA, in Disruptive Innovation; and the Alumni Trajectory Award for growth was presented to Idoven

28 May 2026

CaixaBank, through DayOne, its division specialised in technology companies and their investors, has presented the national awards of the 19th edition of the Start-up AwardsXXI. These awards, aimed at technology-based and innovative companies headquartered in Spain and Portugal and established from 1 January 2022 onwards, have become a benchmark recognition for promoting, supporting and fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The awards are co-granted with the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, through Enisa, in Spain, and Banco BPI in Portugal, at the territorial stage.

In this edition, the Start-up AwardsXXI have focused on identifying ideas that generate projects through innovation, improve people’s lives and protect the planet through technological solutions. To this end, eight Future Challenges Awards were presented, structured into three major categories: Business Transformation, Human & Wellbeing and Living Planet.

The start-ups awarded in the Future Challenges category were Batea Oncology, Second Hundred, REWOOX, Voltic, Veganic, Aridditive, GPT Advisor and ATOM H2. In addition, two cross-cutting runner-up prizes were awarded: the Social Impact Runner-up, for the company whose value proposition focuses on generating a positive social impact through its business model, and the Disruptive Innovation Runner-up, recognising the most disruptive technological innovation, deeptech or frontier tech. These recognitions went to Polar Nanopharma (Catalonia) and AjaxDNA (Valencian Community), respectively.

Finally, the Alumni Trajectory Award was presented to Idoven (Madrid), a company from the DayOne AlumniXXI community with an outstanding track record in terms of growth and global impact.

Winning start-ups of the Future Challenges

The National Future Challenges Awards recognise companies with the greatest potential to address the main challenges facing society and today’s economic environment. In this edition, eight awards were presented across various challenges:

Human & Wellbeing

• Health Challenge – Healthtech & Bio: Batea Oncology (Galicia) was awarded in the challenge dedicated to digital health solutions, telemedicine, diagnosis, monitoring, personalised medicine, mental wellbeing, prevention, fitness and physical activity. Batea Oncology develops an innovative medical device to transform the treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain tumour. Its technology aims to improve therapeutic options and patients’ quality of life by promoting a new approach to tackling this highly complex disease. The finalist company was Horus ML.
• Generation+ Wellbeing Challenge: Second Hundred (Catalonia) was the winning start-up in this challenge, which recognises solutions related to the silver economy, active ageing and improving the quality of life of older people. Second Hundred enables blood testing from home through an automatic, painless and easy-to-use extraction device. Samples are sent to accredited laboratories and users receive a report, facilitating health monitoring without the need to travel. The finalist company was Marisma Biomed.
• Education, culture and leisure challenge: REWOOX (Andalusia) was recognised as the best start-up in this challenge, focused on digital education projects, e-learning, personalised learning, digital entertainment, cultural experiences, socialisation and connection. REWOOX delivers immersive training experiences based on Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, enabling the creation of practical, realistic and customisable simulations to improve how people learn and acquire new skills. The finalist company was Foxtery.
• Tourism and travel challenge: Voltic (Balearic Islands) was the awarded start-up in this challenge, which highlights solutions for responsible tourism, mobility and traveltech with an impact on the tourism sector. Voltic helps hotels reduce energy consumption quickly and easily, without construction work or complex installations. Its wireless plug-and-play system allows monitoring and control of room climate and consumption, optimising building efficiency from day one. Thanks to its technology, hotels can reduce energy costs by up to 30% without affecting the guest experience. The finalist company was DareMapp.

Business Transformation

• Agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry and related industries challenge:
  Veganic (Valencian Community) was the winning start-up in this challenge, aimed at projects that drive the transformation of the agri-food sector through solutions such as IoT sensors, crop optimisation, food traceability, animal welfare or forest risk management. Veganic develops vegan and cruelty-free biosolutions for crop nutrition and protection, offering sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. Its solutions help farmers improve productivity responsibly, promoting more efficient, ethical and sustainable agriculture. The finalist company was DeepFarm.
• Industry 4.0, manufacturing, construction and transport challenge:
  Aridditive (Catalonia) was recognised as the best start-up in this challenge, focused on robotics, digital twins, new materials, proptech, automation and other transformative technologies. Aridditive is transforming the construction sector through 3D printing technology, developing sustainable elements using low-impact materials. Its approach combines full traceability, design flexibility and more efficient processes to drive a more innovative, sustainable and future-ready construction model. The finalist company was EXXN Engineering.
• Financial services, commerce and business support challenge:
  GPT Advisor (Valencian Community) was the awarded start-up in this challenge, recognising projects in fintech, e-commerce, regtech, legaltech, SaaS solutions, marketplaces and platforms that facilitate companies’ digital transformation. GPT Advisor develops generative AI agents for the wealth management sector, designed to enhance financial advisors’ productivity. Its solutions automate tasks such as information analysis, report preparation and investment proposal generation, ensuring secure, auditable and more efficient processes. The finalist company was Reveni.

Living Planet

• Environment and decarbonisation challenge: ATOM H2 (Catalonia) was the winner of this challenge, aimed at projects that contribute to ecological transition and sustainability through renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, carbon footprint, climate monitoring or water management solutions. ATOM H2 captures and intelligently stores surplus renewable energy, combining lithium batteries for immediate response with solid-state hydrogen for long-duration needs. It can replace all diesel generators currently used as backup power systems, while providing clean and reliable energy. The finalist company was S. Lab.

Cross-cutting runner-up prizes and AlumniXXI Recognition

In addition to the eight Future Challenges Awards, the Start-up AwardsXXI presented two cross-cutting runner-up prizes:

The Social Impact Runner-up went to Polar Nanopharma, a company developing smart nanomedicines to improve oncology treatments through biodegradable synthetic polymers that deliver drugs more precisely with lower toxicity.

The Disruptive Innovation Runner-up went to AjaxDNA, which develops technology to accelerate the creation of new therapies in the pharmaceutical industry. Its approach combines digital models of biological systems with a pioneering cellular teleprogramming platform to make research, development and production faster, more accurate and efficient.

The Alumni Trajectory Recognition was awarded to Idoven, winner of the Start-up AwardsXXI in Madrid and nationally in the Health category in 2019–20. Idoven is a pioneering e-health start-up that has developed an assistant for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias, helping prevent serious conditions such as heart attacks and sudden death, combining cloud-based data analysis using Artificial Intelligence with medical wearable technology.

Recognition, international support and investment boost

Each of the eight winning companies received a cash prize of €15,000, while the two runner-up companies received €9,000 each. In addition, winning and finalist start-ups will gain access to the international support programme Moonshot Thinking for Entrepreneurs, organised in collaboration with ESADE and ICEX in Berlin.

All awarded companies in this 19th edition have also received direct approval for the Innovation Degree of the Spanish Government’s Start-up Certification, granted by Enisa. Furthermore, they will join the AlumniXXI community, a meeting point for knowledge sharing among founders of awarded companies.

19 years driving the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Since its launch in 2007, the Start-up AwardsXXI have become one of the most prestigious recognitions for start-ups in Spain and Portugal. Over 19 editions, the programme has invested more than €10 million in prizes and support actions, benefiting more than 560 companies.

In this edition, in addition to the national phase, 19 regional awards were presented to companies with the greatest impact in their territories: 17 in Spain and two in Portugal.

About CaixaBank DayOne

DayOne is CaixaBank’s division specialised in technology companies and their investors. Its goal is to support technology-based, fast-growing and globally oriented companies at all stages, offering tailored solutions.

DayOne has expanded its value proposition with a venture debt instrument endowed with €150 million to boost the growth of scale-ups and established start-ups in Spain and Portugal. It also offers specialised services for investors (business angels, venture capital and corporates).

It currently has physical hubs in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Málaga and Girona, acting as meeting points for talent and capital within the innovation ecosystem.

About Enisa

Enisa (Empresa Nacional de Innovación) is a public organisation under the Ministry of Industry and Tourism that supports innovative and viable projects from Spanish start-ups and SMEs.

It offers participatory loans ranging from €25,000 to €1.5 million without requiring guarantees beyond a solid project and a qualified management team.

In 2025, Enisa granted 514 loans totalling €86.2 million, with an average financing amount of around €167,000.

Historically, Enisa has provided 9,700 loans to more than 8,400 companies, with a total investment of €1.5 billion.